ALBANY

Hospital departments to hold open house

The diabetes education, outpatient nutrition services and wound ostomy departments at Samaritan Albany General Hospital invite the community to an open house from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, on the second floor of the Elm Professional Building, 620 Elm St. S.W.

Staff will be on site to give tours, discuss the benefits of diabetes education, explain blood sugar levels, give free checks, and provide information about classes and support groups.

For more information, call 812-4638.

LEBANON

St. Vincent de Paul receives grant

St. Vincent de Paul has received a $2,500 grant from the Fred Meyer Foundation for the School Shoes Program, which provides a new pair of shoes to low-income students in the Lebanon Community School District.

Payless Shoe Store in Lebanon provides a discount for each pair of shoes, and children and their parents select their own shoes.

The grants are funded by employee contributions and public donations at Fred Meyer retail stores.

Hospital to hold Super Sitter class

Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital will host a Super Sitter class from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 31 in conference room B. Designed for youth ages 11 to 15, the class teaches participants how to supervise children, handle emergencies, prevent accidents, and diaper, dress and feed babies and children. An American Red Cross certificate is awarded upon completion.

The cost is $30 and includes refreshments. Advanced registration no later than March 27 is required.

For more information or to register, call 451-7047.

OREGON

IRS reminds taxpayers of telephone tax refund

Oregon taxpayers have left more than $5 million "on the table" by failing to claim a one-time refund of telephone excise taxes, the Internal Revenue Service reported Friday.

The refund is available for long-distance excise taxes billed from March 2003 through July 2006. The IRS offers a standard refund of $30 to $60, or taxpayers can calculate actual tax paid.

"Even if you don't normally have to file a return, use Form 1040EZ-T to request this refund," the IRS said in a press statement. "Businesses and exempt organizations can also request it."

The IRS gave these figures:

• Number of Oregonians who have requested phone tax refund so far: 329,000.

• Number of Oregonians who filed but failed to request phone tax refund so far: 181,000.

• Minimum dollars left on the table so far: $5.4 million.

Democrat-Herald